Mitch McConnell blames talk radio for his failures

While the dust settles in the aftermath of Tuesday’s primaries–and Republicans begin lining up to reject the presumptive nominee of the party for president–G.O.P. (Gutless On Principles) Hall of Shame member and majority leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, was busy defending his feckless job performance in an appearance at the American Enterprise Institute.

In his speech, Mickey blamed talk radio for the rise of outsider candidates because the conservative hosts have raised over-the-top expectations about what can be accomplished on Capitol Hill:

“A lot of base voters have been really misled by a lot of talk show hosts and others about what’s achievable when you don’t have the White House. There is a president, the only one … who can sign something into law or veto a bill. The notion of shutting down government to defund Obamacare (an obvious dig at Ted Cruz), even if that would achieve the result … is what my friend George Will would call the politics of futile gesture, or put another way, doing dumb things.”

Blaming the media? How Barack Obama can you get?

The ironic part is that people may have developed these expectations from McConnell himself back in 2014 when the Kentucky senator was running for his political life — a situation that he also blamed on the media.

As I wrote at the time, McConnell tried to salvage his crumbling campaign by doing what he does every election — making promises he has no intention of keeping. In an interview with Politico, Mickey shared what he would do as the new majority leader if voters elected a Republican majority. His plan for stopping Obama’s progressive agenda was to attach policy riders to spending bills, daring Barry to veto them. When he was asked about a possible government shut down if Obama were to issue a veto, McConnell said that “Obama needs to be challenged, and the best way to do that is through the funding process.”